


The Color of His Life

by YourDailyMemeDelivery



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Battle of Camlann, Color, Destiny, Emotional, Episode: s05e12-13 The Diamond of the Day, Gen, Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), M/M, Magic Revealed, Merthur - Freeform, Post-Battle of Camlann, Sad, angsty, two sides of the same coin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21611029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourDailyMemeDelivery/pseuds/YourDailyMemeDelivery
Summary: The soulmate au where when Merlin and Arthur meet they see color for the first time and the last.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 149





	1. Merlin

All his life Merlin didn’t see color. Everything was black and white until he had arrived at Camelot and met a certain blond and prattish Prince.

Arthur Pendragon.

Merlin never believed that he would find his soulmate as due to his magic needing to be hidden away and everyone wanting to stay away from the  _ bastard,  _ he never made any real friends in his village besides Will. It was just his luck for his soulmate to be the Prince of Camelot but the vivid blue of the prince’s eyes and how his hair was like strands of gold captivated Merlin until the man opened his mouth.

What an arrogant bully.

Yet, Merlin couldn’t help that maybe a part of his sudden cruel attitude was the shock that appeared in the Prince’s eyes as he looked at Merlin.

The same shock Merlin had when his world suddenly flooded with color.

Merlin had another encounter with Arthur in the markets which broke out into a fight which after Merlin got scolded by Gaius for using his magic foolishly. Not only did Merlin discover his soulmate, but he also discovered his destiny.

Two sides of the same coin.

Arthur became the number one person in his life, not that Merlin had much of a choice due to his destiny. He enjoyed seeing the colorful world around him and soon he enjoyed being in Arthur’s company expect when he was being a massive prat. Arthur was the color in his life.

After saving his life and being rewarded the place of being manservant to the Prince; Arthur and him grew close.

The two soon addressed the fact of their forbidden love and how Arthur would have to marry some stuck-up princess but they spent as much time together as they could. Merlin remembered how his heart would beat faster and how panic would flood through him when the color in the world around him flickered when Arthur was hit by the Questing Beast.

How the whole time Arthur laid there in pain and  _ dying _ the color was dimming in Merlin’s eyes. Merlin had to do something to save his soulmate, destiny and color. He still wanted to see the blue sapphires that were his lover’s eyes.

Merlin had many panic moments throughout the many years he stayed in Camelot at Arthur’s side. He felt Gwen’s pain when her color in her life disappeared when Lancelot went through the veil. Merlin felt immense guilt as she seemed more solemn in the days after Lancelot’s funeral yet he couldn’t help but feel relieved that it wasn’t Arthur. That relief prompted more guilt and Merlin just couldn’t help but feel weighed down by all the secrets and pain his destiny handed to him.

Arthur noticed when he wasn’t as cheery and would try to cheer him up yet with the battle of Camlann approaching even Arthur seemed weighed down with stress.

Camlann marked the end for Merlin.

Mordred had stabbed Arthur with a sword forged in dragon’s breath and all of Merlin’s secrets were revealed on the journey where he tried to save his soulmate one last time. Merlin felt the sad joy when Arthur accepted him and his magic after Merlin had given him the space he needed after the reveal. 

Merlin shed his tears as they both were on the shore of Avalon as they were too late. He held Arthur in his lap and watched as the man he loved battled with the pain.

Arthur mouthed the words ‘I love you’ before finally managing to say.

“Thank you.”

Merlin’s fading colorful world shattered as his soulmate’s eyes literally went dark.

Merlin let out a cry as his world was once again black and white and he held the body of his beloved King as he called for Kilgharrah.

Merlin was subject to an eternity alone in darkness. The color of his life gone with the promise of his eventual return. Merlin held onto that promise as the promise of seeing the blue of Arthur’s eyes again was the only thing that wouldn’t leave him behind in his long life.

Merlin now had to rely on the fading memories of what color was and the hope that his color, soulmate and King would return. And one day that would be so…

-fin-


	2. Arthur

Arthur had always lived in a monochrome world and he had gotten used to it as he had grown up. He’d accepted that he probably wouldn’t meet his soulmate and enjoy the bright colors in the world due to him having to marry a princess in an arranged marriage. Yet, his whole world changed when looked over to the country bumpkin that dared to confront  _ him _ the Prince of Camelot over some servant. He could see color. He didn’t just see black and white with all the shades of gray in between but he saw what blue looked like and how rosy red those lips were on the boy in front of him. 

He didn’t know how to react and lashed out more than was probably necessary against the boy which Arthur later found to be called Merlin. His soulmate,  _ Merlin  _ soon became his manservant after the clumsy oaf saved his life at the banquet and Arthur kept acting like a supercilious prat to the bumbling idiot. Arthur was never good with his emotions and the emotions Merlin made him feel scared him. It also scared him to know that some peasant  _ man _ no less was his soulmate and gave him the gift of seeing all the colors in the world. 

Arthur had to hide his new ability of seeing color from his father as to not give away the fact he found a soulmate which was a servant.

Arthur had his first scare when his idiot of a servant went and drank the poison from his chalice. His heart froze when his manservant fell to the floor and when he’d come back from the journey, stuck in the dungeons where the color around him disappeared.

He felt a rage against his father who had put him in this cell, and delayed Arthur from getting the Morteaus flower to Merlin in time. Arthur was powerless to do anything as no one besides Merlin and him with the possibility of Gaius knew that they were soulmates.

The relief Arthur felt was nothing he felt before when the color returned not a moment later.

Merlin, his soulmate was alive.

Their lives didn’t stop there and neither did Merlin’s determination to sacrifice himself for Arthur.

The dorocha being a key example where Merlin gave Arthur another heart attack when he threw himself in front of Arthur.

Everyone in his trusted group of knights knew that Merlin and him were soulmates and everyone was despondent while Merlin laid on the ground frozen but still somehow  _ alive. _

There were many other instances where Arthur would be in a meeting , in training, or entertaining guests when the color around him would flicker and grow more dim. It always happened when Merlin was missing and Arthur would always become antsy and snappy.

Arthur knew that something life threatening was happening to his servant so he figured that his soulmate wasn’t in the tavern. 

Arthur didn’t have a clue what Merlin was doing when he was gone off to who knows where and he didn’t like it. He always felt better when Merlin would come back and he would always punish Merlin for going to the tavern, even though deep down Arthur knew that was not where Merlin was.

Arthur was a prat. That he would admit as he laid there on the ground, in pain, after Mordred had struck him with his sword. He remembered how Merlin and him had drifted apart in the few weeks leading up to Camlann and he felt regret. He wanted to go back to the simpler times before Morgana’s treachery, and the deaths of Elyan and Lancelot.

Where Merlin and him would banter and share soft private moments together.

Arthur knew he was dying and he regretted not spending more time with his soulmate.

Arthur saw the desperation in Merlin’s eyes as they traveled to Avalon and Arthur admired his lover’s sheer will on saving his life even Arthur knew this was the nd. He felt the guilt that he would be leaving Merlin behind in a dark world and to deal with the aftermath of Morgana’s death and Camlann.

Arthur also found out about Merlin’s magic and their shared destiny. He finally found out that Merlin had risked his life more times than he could count behind his back. Arthur felt cheated in a way. He didn’t mind that Merlin had magic, it was the lying that did it for him.

Arthur accepted Merlin in the end. His life was ending and he had come to terms with his love’s lies and he didn’t want to cause more grief for his soulmate.

On the shores of Avalon his last words were “Thank you.”

He had confessed his love for Merlin one final time and thanked him. The world was fading behind him and he looked at Merlin for one final time before the darkness took him.

Arthur was thankful for Merlin. He was thankful for Merlin’s loyalty, love, and sacrifices. He was thankful that Merlin was the one to enlighten his life and make him into the King he was. 

He was thankful for the Color in his Life.

It was the end for Arthur Pendragon but he hoped to see Merlin again. And he would some day..

-fin-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this sad pile of words and if you're interested in a sequel with a happy ending let me know down below. Anyways thank you for reading :)


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